Tangles

A Story About Alzheimer's, My Mother, and Me

"What do you do when your outspoken, passionate and quick-witted mother starts fading into a forgetful, fearful woman? In this powerful graphic memoir, Sarah Leavitt reveals how Alzheimer's disease transformed her mother Midge--and her family forever. In spare black-and-white drawings and clear, candid prose, Sarah shares her family's journey through a harrowing range of emotions--shock, denial, hope, anger, frustration--all the while learning to cope, and managing to find moments of happiness. Tangles confronts the complexity of Alzheimer's disease, and gradually opens a knot of moments, memories and dreams to reveal a bond between a mother and a daughter that will never come apart"--Page 4 of cover.

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Small things start to become big problems. Sarah, her sister Hannah, and their father and aunties rally around as the mother, wife and sister Midge becomes more and more affected by Alzheimers. This book is poignantly funny, and provides an insight into the effects of this brutal disease.

This book is written through the eyes of the author and what she and her family went though following her mother's Alzheimer's diagnosis. The book begins with a short excerpt on her mother's parents and siblings which is followed by information about the author, her sister and their father. I was constantly astounded by the amount of patience that the family showed and the authors honesty abut her mother's disease. The book jumps around a little bit but overall I think this is a great book with plenty of insight on Alzheimer's and it's effect not only on the patient but their family as well.

Sarah wrote this graphical memoir about her mother's slow descent into the darkness of Alzheimer's disease. The story is touching and poignant, but I'll let you in on a little secret: Sarah can't draw very well, but she can write well enough.

bibliotechnocrat
Jan 22, 2016

Graphic storytelling might seem like a counterintuitive choice for a poignant memoir about a daughter and a family coping with the mother’s dementia, but the spare artwork and candid prose work really well here. Though it is something of a harrowing read, Leavitt manages to incorporate humour along with the tragedy. Ultimately this is a moving story of a family’s love during an excruciating time.

What a wonderful, sad book to read. Sarah's experience is deeply personal but, for anyone who has a family member with Alzheimer's disease, it is worth it. I felt all of the emotions that Sarah did, and she helped normalize them. I've recommended this book to many others.

Rough drawings, and type is very thin and difficult to read, but a touching human steory.

aforr71
Feb 09, 2013

I read this after my grandmother died from dementia. She had been sick for years, with my mother and uncle struggling to care for her. I am so glad that Ms. Leavitt wrote this book to let families know that they aren't alone, that their mixed feelings are normal.

A beautiful graphic novel called Tangles by Sarah Leavitt tells the story of her mum Midge, their family, and how Alzheimers came into their lives. First it just seemed like a bit of forgetfulness. But then Alzheimers began its mean attrition.

Sarah kept notes and drew pictures from the pre-diagnosis days, to her mother's death, and beyond. The story she tells has the honesty of observation. Some details are hard to take, but are instantly recognisable to anyone who has had a loved one with Alzheimers.

It's a bloody brave book and it broke my heart open like a fruit.

crooked_kate
Sep 17, 2012

A unique perspective on a terrible disease. The telling of this story in graphic form lends raw emotion and a detailed retelling of a daughter's struggle to understand the disease's hold on her mother's mind and her family's spirit.